FLAGS. Teacher s notes 1 KNOWLEDGE

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1 Level: Elementary Pre-intermediate (A1 A2) Age: Teenagers Time: This lesson can be divided up in various ways to suit the time you have with your students. Below are three time options that you can choose from depending on the length of your class. However, these are just suggestions and there are plenty of other ways you could divide the lesson up. 90 minutes Complete all activities in Flags, Name that flag, and Geography test. 60 minutes Complete all activities in Flags and Geography test. 45 minutes Complete all activities in Flags except the world flag activity and Geography test. Summary: This lesson is divided into three sections: Flags, Name that flag, and Geography test. Students will (depending on the length of the lesson): 1 identify flags and their countries; 2 create a world flag; 3 play a team board game; 4 take a geography test; 5 write about a country. Key skills: Speaking, reading, writing Subskills: Countries, shapes and colors, describing flags, describing countries Materials: One copy of Flags and Geography test per student; one copy of Name that flag per group of students Note: Worksheets should be printed in color, if possible. If not possible, find images of the flags from the worksheets on the internet and project on screen with an IWB or projector. Teacher s notes 1 FLAGS 1 Draw a simple design of a flag on a flagpole on the board. Ask students what it is. Elicit: It s a flag. Then ask students: Where do you see flags? What different things do flags represent? Allow students to discuss the answers briefly in pairs. the numbers 1 12 on a piece of paper and write the correct country (or organization) next to each number. Then they should exchange pieces of paper with another pair and, as you go through the answers as a class, correct the other pair s answer sheet. Which pair got the most correct answers? Key: 1 the European Union; 2 Germany; 3 Italy; 4 Russia; 5 Spain; 6 Switzerland; 7 New Zealand; 8 France; 9 Greece; 10 Canada; 11 Japan; 12 the Red Cross 2 Hand out Flags worksheet 1 and ask students to read the introduction to confirm their answers. Key: Where do you see flags? on flagpoles in front of schools and government buildings and in public places; What different things do flags represent? countries, states, organizations, your support for something 3 When they have finished, ask them to look at the flags on the worksheet (or if the worksheet is only in black and white, bring the flags up one at a time on a computer screen for students to see). Divide the class into pairs. How many flags do they recognize? They should write 4 Refer students to the Phrasebook on the worksheet, which contains useful language for describing flags. Go over the language with them, answering any questions they have about the vocabulary. Then read the following short texts aloud to the students. Can they identify the country each flag belongs to? This flag has three vertical stripes. The first stripe is blue, the second stripe is white, and the third stripe is red. (France) This flag has a red circle on a white background. (Japan)

2 This flag has a yellow horizontal stripe between two red horizontal stripes. In the yellow stripe of the flag, there is a small symbol. (Spain) 5 Now ask students to describe flags to each other. They can describe flags from the worksheet, as well as other flags they know. Their partner has to guess the country. Remind them to use the language they have just learned. 6 Ask students which countries have flags that are most recognized in the world. Have students describe the flag and say what the colors or images on the flag represent (if they know). For example, students may say: The United States flag has horizontal red stripes alternating with white stripes. It has white stars on a blue background in the top left corner. There are 50 stars representing the 50 states and 13 stripes representing the 13 original colonies. 7 Explain that, although every country in the world has a flag, there is no world flag. Your students will now design a flag for the planet. Hand out Flags worksheet 2. In groups, students work on a design. Encourage them to think of something original that will inspire people. When they have finished their design, they should copy it onto the blank flag on the activity page. 8 Have students vote for the best flag. Display all the flag designs in the classroom or on a public bulletin board in your school. You could run this as a class competition or even a competition between classes. NAME THAT FLAG 1 Divide the class into small groups. Each group should choose a country to represent that is not their own. Write the chosen country names on the board. Explain that you are going to play a game about flags and countries. 2 Give each group a copy of the Name that flag worksheet. Tell them to look at it. Point out that there are flags around the outside, and under each flag there is a number. The number under each flag corresponds to the numbered country on the map in the middle. There are a total of 30 flags. The object of the game is to name each flag. If a group correctly identifies a flag, they are awarded 10 points. If the group can give two additional facts about the country, then they are awarded an additional 10 points (5 per fact). Groups take turns identifying a flag, starting with number 1. If a group can t identify the flag, or if they don t know the name of the country in English, then the next group can answer for bonus points. Write the following useful language on the board and tell students to refer to it as they speak. The capital of... is.... The people in... speak.... People from... are called is from.... There is a famous... in Play the game together as a class. The game ends when all the flags have been named. The group with the most points at the end is the winner. Note: With small classes, you can play the game with a die and counters. Each student places a counter on one of the map squares. Students roll the die and move clockwise around the board. Every time they land on a flag, they must identify the country and say something in English about the country. They cannot repeat something that someone has already said. For every country they say something about, they get one point. The object of the game is for students to go around the board twice and return to their original square. The student with the most points at the end is the winner. Key: 1 France; 2 Egypt; 3 Panama; 4 Brazil; 5 Morocco; 6 Sweden; 7 South Africa; 8 El Salvador; 9 Israel; 10 Indonesia; 11 Cuba; 12 India; 13 Chile; 14 Canada; 15 Japan; 16 China; 17 Venezuela; 18 Iraq; 19 Germany; 20 Mexico; 21 Kenya; 22 Australia; 23 Saudi Arabia; 24 Argentina; 25 Greenland; 26 Uruguay; 27 South Korea; 28 Spain; 29 Russia; 30 the United Kingdom 4 Finally, play Geographical Alphabet. Working in small groups, students have to make a geographical alphabet. They must think of 26 countries, one beginning with a, the next beginning with b, and so on. Point out that the letter x can be part of the country name rather than the first letter. Difficult letters might be O (Oman) and Q (Qatar). Which group was able to think of a country for every letter? They are the winners! Teacher s notes 2

3 TEST 1 Play Snowman with the word geography. Write 9 blanks on the board and ask students to guess letters of the alphabet. Fill in the correct guesses until students guess the word is geography. 2 Ask students the following questions: Do you like geography? Are you good at it? Do you know the geography of your own country? 3 Give students copies of the Geography test worksheets and do the Identifying geographical features activity together. Key: a rivers; b mountains; c oceans; d islands Can students give any more examples for each category? 4 Ask students to work in pairs to do the Where in the world am I? activity. Can they identify the country? HOMEWORK TASK Students think about which country they would most like to visit. They must write a fact sheet of the country, including: its full name, its capital city, its population, its most famous landmarks, and a description of its flag. They must then give at least three reasons why they want to visit the country. In the next class, students present their countries to their classmates. Teacher s notes 3 Key: Brazil 5 Students then write four sentences about a country they know but not their own country. When they are finished, students sit in groups of four. The first person reads his or her sentences out loud. The other group members write down on a piece of paper what country they think it is. Then the second person reads his or her sentences, and so the game continues. When all group members have read their sentences and written their answers, each person reveals his or her country. Could anyone guess all the mystery countries? 6 Now students can test their geographical knowledge with the Pop quiz. They write their name in the space provided and then answer the questions. When they have finished, they trade worksheets. As you go through the answers, students mark the worksheet in front of them and calculate their classmate s score. Key: 1 b; 2 b; 3 c; 4 b; 5 c; 6 a; 7 a; 8 China; 9 Paris; 10 Italy; 11 Dutch; 12 New York City; 13 D; 14 A; 15 B; 16 C Declare the winner!

4 IDENTIFYING FLAGS Flags are symbols. Flags can represent countries, states, or organizations. You often see flags on flagpoles in front of schools and government buildings and in public places. You can show your support for something by waving its flag. Look at the flags on this page. Do you know what countries (or organizations) they belong to? How many can you identify? Flags worksheet PHRASEBOOK Describing flags This flag has Vertical / horizontal stripes. The first stripe is, the second stripe is, and the third stripe is. a symbol that looks like. some writing on it. a cross on it. a star on it. This flag has on a white / black / green background. In the top / bottom left / right, there is / are. On the left / right, there is / are. In the middle, there is / are....

5 A WORLD FLAG Can you design a new flag for Earth? What will you put on the flag? Stripes? Stars? An image of the planet? A flag should be an inspiration to all the people it represents, so choose your design carefully! Flags worksheet 2

6 Name that flag worksheet

7 TEST IDENTIFYING GEOGRAPHICAL FEATURES What do the words in each category refer to? a the Mississippi, the Amazon, the Danube, the Thames b Everest, K2, the Rockies, Kilimanjaro c the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Arctic, the Indian d Greenland, Mallorca, Madagascar, Ireland Geography test worksheet 1 WHERE IN THE WORLD AM I? Can you identify this country? It is a very big country. People speak Portuguese in this country. It is famous for its carnival in February. This country was the winner of the soccer World Cup in POP QUIZ Name Score Part 1 Circle the correct answer. 1 Which country has a population of more than one billion people? a Brazil b India c Russia 2 Which of these countries is not an island or an island country? a Cuba b Greece c New Zealand 3 Which country does not have a border with Mexico? a the USA b Guatemala c Panama 4 Which region has the most oil? a Central America b the Middle East c China 5 How many countries form the United Kingdom? a two b three c four 6 Where is Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world? a Nepal b Tibet c Mongolia

8 7 Sometimes big changes in the temperature of the ocean cause serious weather changes around the world. What is the name of this phenomenon? a El Niño b global warming c the Gulf Stream Part 2 Write short answers to these questions. 8 Where is the city of Macau? 9 What is the City of Light? 10 Which country looks like a boot? 11 A person from America is American. A person from China is Chinese. What do you call a person from the Netherlands? Geography test worksheet 2 12 What city is called the Big Apple? Part 3 Find the bodies of water. Write the correct letter from the map next to each body of water. B A D C 13 the Pacific Ocean 14 the Atlantic Ocean 15 the Mediterranean Sea 16 the Indian Ocean